Help with some basics about different positions?!

Question: Hi Nick, So I have a boyfriend who plays lacrosse and sometimes I honestly have no idea what is going on, even though I love going to games I don't have much knowledge about the game.

My boyfriends plays midfield, could you tell me a bit about the difference between positions and what different qualities each must possess? Like, I know the gist of it, but looking for a bit more detail. I was also wondering when playing college lax instead of a club or high school what makes it different on the field? Are there any changes in what you do or how you play as you move up in experience level? Thank you so much!

Answer from Nick: Hi Rachael!

Thank you for your question, your boyfriend sounds like he really loves the sport and is lucky to have a girlfriend who wants to know so much more about the beautiful game.

Lacrosse can be pretty confusing sometimes and and it definitely takes a couple of times of watching to understand the process of the game. The basic rule is simple which is to score the most goals in the allotted time given. The field is separate into two halves and each team has an offensive and a defensive zone. On one side of the field there can only be six players from a team at once. If there are any more players it results in an offside penalty which will cause a turnover to the other team. As long as there is 6 players on each side then both teams are on sides. A normal game starts off with with a face-off at the center of the field to decide who will start with possession. On each end of the field there is a box and players have about twenty seconds to touch the ball in the box. And that is the basics of lacrosse.

Now there are different positions:

Attack: You have the attack man which play on the offensive side and their purpose is to score goals. They are mostly guarded by defense-man.

Defense: Defense-man can be identified by having a 6 foot pole which is used for poking and picking up ground balls.

Midfielders: Then you have midfielders which have the responsibility of running back and forth BUT you can also have offensive midfielders which are midfielders that run onto the field to assist the offense and defensive midfielders that switch out to assist the defense.

LSM: You can even have midfielders known as LSM which stands for long stick midfielder and this is a player who is a midfielder but uses a defensive stick (long pole).

Goalie: The next position is the goalie who uses a goalie stick! That stick has a giant head.

FOGO: The final position is the FOGO which is the player that takes the faceoff at the beginning of the game, after each quarter and after every goal.

As far as changes in the game as a player progresses - there are small changes. For example, the way a player strings their stick is based on the level of play that player is in. There are limitations at youth levels that limit the type of stringings that are legal. Another important change when you get to the college game is the addition of a shot clock that the referees put into affect if the offense has possession for too long.

I hope this helps and thank you so much for your question Rachael. I hope you get to see much more of your boyfriends games and will know a little more about what is going on!